An investment banker was at the
pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The investment banker
complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it
took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, "Only
a little while."

The investment banker then asked,
"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The fisherman said, "With
this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The investment banker then asked,
"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The fisherman said, "I sleep
late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll
into the village each evening and spend time with my family, I have a full and
busy life."

The investment banker scoffed,
"I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time
fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the
bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of
fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell
directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would
control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this
small coastal fishing village and move to a big town and eventually to the the
city where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise."

The fisherman asked, "But,
how long will this all take?"

To which the investment banker
replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked
the fisherman.

The investment banker laughed and
said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an
IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would
make millions."

"Millions?…Then what?"

The investment banker said,
"Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you
would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your
wife, stroll to the village in the evenings and spend time with your
family."

One day I decided to quit... I
quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one
last talk with God.

"God", I said.
"Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me...

"Look around", He said.
"Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.

When I planted the fern and the
bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them
water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the
floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.
In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing
came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

He said. "In the third year,
there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In the
fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. "I would not
quit." He said. "Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from
the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant... But
just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years
growing roots.

Those roots made it strong and
gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of

My creations a challenge it could
not handle." He said to me. "Did you know, my child, that all this
time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots."

"I would not quit on the
bamboo. I will never quit on you."

"Don't compare yourself to
others.." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern
... Yet, they both make the forest beautiful."

"Your time will come, "
God said to me. "You will rise high!"

"How high should I
rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo
rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I
questioned.

"Yes. " He said,
"Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

I left the forest and bring back
this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on
you. He will never give up on you. Never regret a day in your life. Good days
give you happiness Bad days give you experiences; Both are essential to life.

A happy and meaningful life
requires our continuous input and creativity. It does not happen by chance. It
happens because of our choices and actions. And each day we are given new
opportunities to choose and act and, in doing so, we create our own unique
journey."

A long time ago in China , a girl named Li-Li got married and
went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li
found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all. Their
personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her
mother-in-law' s habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly. Days
passed, and weeks passed.

Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and
fighting. But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient
Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow to her mother-in-law and obey her every
wish. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing Li-Li's poor
husband great distress.

Finally, Li-Li could not tolerate her mother-in-law' s bad
temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it!
Li-Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told
him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could
solve the problem once and for all. Mr. Huang thought for a while, and finally
said, "Li-Li, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to
me and obey what I tell you."

Li-Li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell
me to do."Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes
with a package of herbs. He told Li-Li, "You can't use a quick-acting
poison to get rid of your mother-in-law because that would cause people to
become suspicious."

Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will
slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day prepare some delicious meal
and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that
nobody suspects you, when she dies you must be very careful to act very
friendly towards her. "Don't argue with her. Obey her every wish, and
treat her like a queen." Li-Li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and
hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law. Weeks went by,
and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated
food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr.Huang had said about avoiding
suspicion. So she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated
her like her own mother.

After six months had passed, the whole household had changed.
Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she
almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument with her
mother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much kinder and easier to
get along with.

The mother-in-law' s attitude towards Li-Li changed, and she
began to love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and
relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in- law one could ever find. Li-Li
and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and
daughter. Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what was happening. One day,
Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again. She said, "Dear
Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law.
She's changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do
not want her to die because of the poison I gave her."

Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. "Li-Li, there's
nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were
vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your
attitude towards her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you
gave to her."